


The Bone Pit

by Werecakes



Category: TMNT (2007), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - All Media Types
Genre: Be Careful What You Wish For, Dark, Donnie and Mikey are completely lost, Horror, Jungles are scary, Leo can't tell what's real and what isn't, Leo's trying to be a good boyfriend too, M/M, Raph is trying to be a good boyfriend, Scary, Tags May Change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-28
Updated: 2017-11-15
Packaged: 2019-01-25 12:19:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 9,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12531200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Werecakes/pseuds/Werecakes
Summary: (Based on the TMNT 2007 movie)After coming home from his training in the jungles of South America, Leonardo starts having nightmares that make him question what had really happened within the jungle. Something calls out to him, trying to lure him back. But what would happen if he actually followed it?





	1. Chapter 1

It was dark. Scrolling like ink stained walls as far as he could see. That was, if he could see. All that guided him was his hand on a stone wall, the rough texture scraped across his palm as he gingerly made his way. Sometimes he could feel something soft, like a patch of moss, sometimes small trickles of water. He reassured himself that there was a way for light to get in, after all, moss wouldn’t be there. He told himself there was a way out, the water had to come from somewhere. He felt around like a blind pup, hoping to find an opening big enough for him to slip through. 

Then he saw a yellow light. 

A pinprick off in the distance. 

His heart leapt into his throat, hope. Careful, he continued on, closer to the light. It had to be the way out.

“...oser...”

A noise. The first one he had heard since he started to walk these shadow shrouded corridors. It almost sounded like a word. He was alone though... wasn’t he?

“closer.” 

It was far away, but it had been a word.

“Hello?” His throat constricted around the word. It pulled hard, drowning out the sound of his voice and leaving only a strange shudder of doubt. It was almost as if his body did not want to actually call out.

It was silent.

He tried again, this time forcing the syllables out, “Hello?”

“Hello.” The voice mimicked. This time it wasn’t far away, it was over his shoulder. So close he should have felt breath but there was no pressure from breathing.

\------------

“NO!” Leo kicked at his blankets flailing to sit up.

“You okay?” A sleepy voice beside him asked.

Leo rubbed at his eyes, the sudden burst of adrenaline forcing the dream back into the depths of his mind. All he could remember was the feel of a voice that wasn’t there pressing against his ear slit. He couldn’t even remember what it had said.

“Leo.” A concerned hand was placed on his shell, the familiar large palm soothing his racing heart.

“I’m okay, Raph.”

“Ya sure? Second time this has happened.”

The leader gently laid back, Raph pulling the blanket back over him as he shifted to his side. After Winters, the two still had a rocky relationship but it started to smooth itself out. Eventually they started to steal glances, leave touches on the shoulder and wrist for a little too long. Training became more like play, and one day they had been up on the surface when a squall hit. They had sought shelter from the icy spring storm. Most the snow had melted and this rain would take care of the rest but it was still too cold for two ninja turtles to risk getting caught in it least they wanted to get ill. The little broken down brick building was perfect to hold them, small but not small enough to force them to press against each other to just fit. It kept their body heat close. But they started to shiver nonetheless and Raph started to rub his hands over Leo’s arms to try to warm them up. Then Leo was doing the same for Raph and the rubbing turned to caressing, then they were pressed together. Leo leaned in first, his tongue gently darting out over Raph’s lips. Raph didn’t respond at first he just gazed at the older turtle. Before he knew it, Leo’s mouth was caught in a full kiss, a tongue against his that was hungry and he couldn’t help but feed it.

It wasn’t long after that when Leo started to have a strange feeling. Something lurking up above. He would listen sometimes, as if he could hear a voice straining to whisper. Nothing came though. When that happened he was always quick to join one of his brother’s sides, taking solace in the fact they were there. They were real. They made real sounds, he could reach out and touch them, physical evidence that family ties made up his anchor and he could always rely on it.

Recently he’s been having a dream. He could never remember what it was about, just that it unnerved him, and now it was starting to scare him. Raph was right. This was the second time he woke up, sitting up as if he was under attack. Once was a nightmare, twice was a coincidence. 

Leo did not believe in coincidences. So it had to be a pattern. A pattern to what, he didn’t know and more over he didn’t like thinking about it.

A warm palm over his head pulled him from his worrisome thoughts. Raphael caressed and soothed him, wiping away the sweat on his brow and pulling him flush against the heat of his body. Leo wiggled a little, wrapping an arm around his lover and tucking his head under that strong jaw. He pulled in a deep breath, closing his eyes and trying to focus on the calming sense of Raph. How those powerful arms held him close, that musky scent that said he was there, right there. He listened to the heart beat even out and the breathing shallow before the rattle of a snore started up. It was loud, it was clunky, it was Raph.

\--------------

“Closer.”

“What?”

“It says closer.” Donnie was squinting at the television screen. He was taking a break from his studies and constant drive to experiment and learn to get lost in video game pleasure. He leaned back from his seat on the floor that was close to the the television. A CG ghost popped up on the television screen screaming loud but the ninja didn’t budge. He rolled his eyes and ejected the CD. “Really, that was just childish. Having something just jump out at you isn’t scary. And making the text horribly small and blurry so it lures you in close. It’s more of a childish prank than actual scary experience.”

“Why are you playing it then?” Leo thumbed his book of The Art of War. Something about what Donnie said made something squirm inside of him.

“Trying something different. Studying fears, what triggers them. How people can be fooled or lulled into a false sense of security in order to lay trust into something that is blatantly due to cause them harm. Video games exercise the art of scaring, well all the good ones.” Donnie shrugged.

Leo closed his book a smile on his lips, “Let me guess. Mikey dared you to study something other than mechanics.”

Olive cheeks colored. He rubbed at his neck, “Maybe. But that doesn’t demean the need for further investigation. Mikey just encouraged me to broaden my horizons.”

“Uh huh. How much sleep did you have and how much sugar had he had by the time the two of you talked about this?”

“None and a lot. In which order I’m not sure of any more.” The purple clad turtle chose a different game and started it up. “Nonetheless it’s been kind of...nice to study something different. Psychology is a bit of a messy subject with so many different subcategories that the magnitude of the perplexity is immense. So I never chanced it, but Mikey suggested taking little bits at a time.” He put his fingers on his forehead and rubbed away a starting headache. “Then he promptly gave Master Splinter another batch of birthday cake that they are still dwindling down the stash of from Cowabunga Carl’s glory days. That was his third one! Little bits at a time, BAH!”

“Donnie, Donnie,” Leo got up and mussed up his little brother’s bandanna. “Donnie. They have got to be almost done with it and then you’ll never have to deal with it again.”

The mechanic gave a long exasperated sigh, smoothing out his bandanna. “Knowing them they probably have a secret freezer full of that stuff.”

“Hello.”

Leo stiffened. His muscles clenched tight at the feel of breath against his temple. The gruff voice pushing the word into his mind stirring a dark light inside. The jump of his heart was quick lived when a pair of lips pressed against his temple and he realized that it was Raph. His arms wrapped around Leo’s waist and he pulled the turtle back a few steps and flopped down onto the sofa with Leo onto his lap.

“What’cha playin’ Don?”

“Silent Hi...”

Their voices melded away from Leo’s hearing. His mind hearing “hello” over and over again. Melding from Raph’s voice to a strange one. Silky smooth, dark and gravely, a whisper with power, all meshed together into a deep song that pulled at a tiny thread inside.

Leo slipped down to lay halfway on the sofa the other over Raph’s lap. He turned and wrapped his arms around Raph’s waist and rested his chin on his lover’s shoulder. He could feel that thread pulling. He held fast, keeping Raph as his anchor.

Hello.

Such a simple word. A greeting even. But it scared him.

Why did it scare him?


	2. Chapter 2

Raph dangled the medallion over his head as he leaned back in the bed he shared with Leonardo. The way the light glinted off of the gold reflected in his eyes giving the illusion that his eyes were glazed with honey. He jerked the ribbon it hung from sending it into the air where he quickly snatched into his palm.

“I still think it’s weird he gave you a medal for just coming home.”

Leo looked up from where he sat on the floor, his legs were crossed indian style and his hands had been busy powdering the blade of his katana after sharpening it. “I’m sure he would have do it for anyone of us.”

Raph snorted, it was a mixture of genuinely amused and spite. “You seriously think he treats us fairly?”

“Well, yeah.”

The sound of the oldest turtle’s voice made the emerald turtle sit up. His snout was wrinkled and his brow creased the way he did when he was analyzing something. Usually he would have just yelled at his lover but after what happened at the Winters Tower he had learned a few tricks from Donatello in hopes to reign in his temper. First, observe. Keep his mouth shut and push his raging thoughts to the side. Second, try to understand. This one was the hard part. He always had to force himself into it and it made it harder and harder but he was trying. And thankfully everyone saw it and even once Donatello said he was proud of his advancement. Then he punched Mikey for something-he couldn’t remember for-and the moment was ruined. But still he tried.

Leo blinked up at his brother, eyes wide and innocent. Something he seemed to have reclaimed a bit of after everything settled between the two of them.

“You... seriously think he treats us fairly. Don’t you.” It wasn’t a question.

Raph’s anger pulled at him, nagged like a child ready for a tantrum. He squared off his jaw and swallowed hard trying to push it to the side. How could Leo be so blind? Splinter would have never given him a medal for anything. He had to struggle every minute of every day to get attention from their father. He wasn’t the oldest and responsible like Leo. He wasn’t the baby that always got into trouble like Mikey, nor was he the genius that could be bragged about like Donnie. He wasn’t special and he tried to be but everyone already had snagged that place. Unless he lashed out he got nothing. Mikey got attention by bribing with sweets and saying or doing something that made Splinter feel older than he really was. Don... well he just was Don, everyone was proud of him no matter what he did because they all relied on him. Leo though. Leo was special. He could shoulder everything and not break. He was the oldest, the leader, the one that never wavered except for once. When he didn’t come home when he was supposed too. But he bucked up and came home still.

Always.

Leo was always the better son.

Raph rubbed at his face and let out a long breath. There was little use reflecting on all of that. But he couldn’t help but feel the injustice of it all when Leo didn’t see how unfair everything could be at times.

A tender hand smoothed over his head and down the back of his neck. Skilled fingers massaged gently making his tension slip away. Lips pressed against his brow as he slipped his arms around Leo’s waist. He pulled the turtle close and buried his face into the warm yellow plastron in front of him.

“If you want, you can keep it.” Leo whispered against emerald skin.

Raph chuckled, a deep rumble like moving rocks under water. “What for? I don’t recall single handedly protectin’ South American villages.”

“No, but you never gave up on New York.” Leaf green hands cupped a chin and made Raphael look at him. “And if you don’t think that’s good enough then you working on your temper is award worthy.”

“What if I don’t want an overly shiny medal?” Raph’s hands slipped down to Leo’s buttocks. He cupped the round globes gently allowing Leo enough leway to move away when he wanted too.

“Then name your reward and I’ll make sure you get it.” Leo pushed Raph back enough to slide over him. His legs comfortably over his lover’s as he sat on the ex-Night Watcher’s lap. His lips pressed against Raph’s, soft and chaste, long and wanting for tongue and the stroke of magnificent hands.

“Mmm, maybe all I want is you with me.” Raph kissed along Leo’s jaw down to his neck.

The leader couldn’t help the soft breath that hitched when Raph’s tongue darted out to taste his neck. His voice was a whisper when he said, “You have me.”

Teeth raked over his adam’s apple and he churred.

The room fell silent and Raph stiffened. Leo felt his cheeks heat up and he quickly tried to get away from his lover. That had been the single loudest churr either of them had made even combined. It was oddly embarrassing.

“Oh no, no, no.” Raph pulled Leo close and in an instant threw the turtle on his shell onto the bed and Raph was leaning over him. His lips pulled into a very satisfied smirk. “You don’t get to let loose something like that and just run away from me. Let’s see if I can get more of those.”

“Raph no, everyone is still awake an-aaaoooh god.” 

The larger ninja had already set to work. Using his hands and mouth to the fullest of advantages. He worked hard and long pulling many of the loud mating calls until Leo was squirming on their bed, the sheets bunched into his fists and he was a panting sweaty mess that was begging. And to his delight Raph took even longer after that to finally topple the both of them over the edge and into a sleeping tangle of limbs.

\------------------

Back to following that same hallway of stone. Back to tracing it with his hand feeling all the cold crevices and crumbling rock. This time the wall gave way. He stumbled to the side and he desperately groped around to find the familiarity of something solid. The floor gave, he felt the uncertainty of when he would land. It was short lived as his heel caught something.

A step?

Feeling down with his toes he let out a small laugh. Stairs. He was on stairs! He carefully felt each step with his toes before stepping down. Stairs, magical stairs. It was silly to be excited over something so simple but it meant one thing to him; Civilization. Humans made stairs. It was very rare for nature to make such things and Donatello once told him it was usually around the ocean for reasons he didn’t really care to think about because he was certain if he was by the ocean he would at least hear the rolling water by now. So it meant he was in some structur. Somewhere humans had been.

Then there was that light again. It was softer this time, not bright like a flashlight breaching shadow, but like encroaching dawn. The stairs went away and this time when he reached to the side he found the wall again. This wall had more moss and water trickling down it.

He had to be getting out. And that strange voice was not calling. He would get out! He would see Raph again!

Wait... Leo stopped walking. He pressed his head into his palm. Raph? When did he lose Raph? He... Where was he?

He pulled his hand from the wall and ran the water that clung onto his hand over his head. He took a few deep breaths trying to remember. When did he lose Raph? Lose. Why would he use that term? What happened to Raph?

“Raph.” Leo’s voice shook, barely able to push past his lips.

Something stirred deep down the tunnel he was in, or was it a corridor? A hallway perhaps? Where was he?

“Raph?” The voice was low, ancient with a strange accent. It rattled with an old tone, rolling the nickname through a mouth of holes and teeth.

Panic struck Leo. It clutched his lungs and hammered his heart. This thing, whatever was down here with him was not supposed to know names. It now had Raph’s.

Leo clutched his head. He gave it Raph’s name! What was it going to do to Raph?! Not his Raph!!

“RAPH!” Leo shot up in bed. 

He felt around the dark room, his hands padding around the empty bed desperately trying to find his lover. “Raph!”

The door flung open, light from the hallway flooded in. Raphael was dripping wet, soap suds still clinging onto him. “What?! What happened?” 

The leaf green turtle tossed the blankets he was tangled in to the side. He quickly got up and rushed forward. He pushed against Raph, clutching onto him the best he could the water and soap making it hard for his fingers to clutch onto carapace and scutes.

“Leo?” Raph’s voice was worried. “You’re shaking...”

“What?”

Raph rubbed his shell comfortingly, “What’s wrong? You’re shaking.”

“I’m not shaking.” Leo looked around the room then as if he just realized Raph was wet for the first time pulled back as best as he could with his lover holding onto him. “Why are you wet?”

“Leo. You were screaming for me.”

The leader’s brows knitted together. “I think I would have remembered that, Raph.”

“You did! Why don’t you remember?”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> To inform people; this story was once a commission. These chapters that are coming out quickly because I have them in my archives and I wanted to space them out while I work on my other stories as well as this one.

Donatello peeled Leo’s eyelids open. His pen light gleamed into his brother’s eye as he looked for minute changes. He moved to the other eye making Leo look up and down then side to side. Turning off his pen light he sat down. 

“Have you hit your head recently?”

“No.”

“On a scale of one to ten how stressful do you feel in the middle of your day? One being no stress and ten being extremely stressed.”

“On average a 2.”

“Any depression?”

“No.”

“In your own words how would you describe your sleep?”

Leo shrugged this time. He hadn’t thought about it but the thought of going to sleep made him want to drink coffee to stay awake. When he wakes up he’s progressively showing he’s unwillingness to be in bed. Day before last when he woke up he was on the floor. Then last night he was in Raph’s arms by the door. Who knows what would happen tonight. “It... worries me.”

The olive turtle across from him tilted his head in curiosity. “Why would you say that?”

“Well... keeping in mind I’m not depressed or stressed and I’m very happy with sharing a bed with Raph... I don’t want to sleep. I get... jittery?” The leader tried to grasp for words to discribe something he didn’t understand. “I have to work myself up to sleeping.”

“Okay,” Donnie crossed his legs and put a thoughtful finger to his chin. “When you go to bed, right before you start falling asleep how would you describe your surroundings?”

This got a reaction. An uncomfortable twitch, shifting hips and darting eyes that couldn’t fix onto a spot for longer than a few seconds. The thought of looking around his room at night, laying there next to Raph who was snoring loudly, usually it would fill him with content and glee but recently... He didn’t want to open his eyes. He shivered at the feel of anything cold against him forcing him to steal the blankets until Raph insisted they had separate covers. His eyes were always squeezed shut soon as the light was switched off and a dreadful feeling would creep deep inside him like a secret sworn to never be spoken about again.

“Leo?”

“I... I don’t like going to sleep.”

“Can you tell me why?”

“It unnerves me.”

“In what way?”

Leo shrugged one shoulder. “I don’t know.”

Donnie uncrossed his legs and leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees. He rubbed his palms together in thought. Leo was fine for his physical check up, and Leo never lied about injuries, so no head trauma. The thing that concerned him was the reaction towards sleep. From all his studies into fear so far his eldest brother was definitely showing the signs of being afraid. Only a few times had he seen Leo really scared and it was always in the line of battle or a direct result of. Being as they hadn’t been in fights for a long time there were a few things that came to mind. One, he was so used to having direct fights with Purple Dragons and the Foot that he was feeling a subconscious stress level due to patterns being broken. This was likely due to their very humanistic minds. Two, he was taking in a regret of being with Raphael while his other brothers had no one, so when laying down with his lover it was triggered. Leo being the type to think of others before himself, this could be another option. The last one was that he was upset with sharing his room for so long and it was quickly manifesting itself into a condition. It was rare in humans but it was another form of a pattern being broken and being outside of their element for too long made their mind conjure up -usually- unlikely behaviors.

“I have a few theories as to what could be going on. But we’ll have to test them out to see how well we can eliminate these and find out what really is the matter. So tonight I would like you to sleep by yourself.”

“What?”

“Just to test a theory. Sleep in your old room, sleep on the sofa, or even the dojo anywhere you can be alone.”

“But why?”

“It’s just to see if your sleeping pattern is slowly corrupting itself through the introduction of an already populated environment.”

“What?”

“You basically are sleeping bad because you have someone else in the room. And before you say anything, it does happen to people and a night here and there away from your lover does help. Only trying it for a night, okay?”

“Okay. But you’re explaining it to Raph. I’m not going to open that can of worms.”

“Hopefully he’ll be forthcoming since he was the one that dragged you to me.” Donnie smiled softly.

\---------------------

“I don’t like it.” Raph crossed his arms.

“It’s just for one night.” Leo had his blanket thrown over one shoulder and a pillow under one arm. “Don already told you this.”

Raph rubbed his brow, “Yeah and some other weird things that I don’t understand. I mean none of us ain’t had subconscious problems before, right?”

“Not that I know of, but I trust Donnie.”

“Yeah, yeah. He’s got a real egg for a head and he hasn’t steered us wrong before.”

“So stop fussing. I’ll be in the dojo tonight.”

“Did you just say ‘fussin’?” Raph couldn’t help the small bit of laughter that escaped his lips. “What are ya; A middle aged housewife?”

With a flick of his wrist the leaf green ninja had pulled his pillow free from under his arm and had swatted Raphael across the face with it. “For that sir! I shall not sleep with you tonight!” The resulting laughter made him smile and even give a little chuckle himself. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Hey, where do you think you’re going?”

“To the dojo.”

Raph grabbed Leo by the wrist and pulled him back, flush up against his body. “Not without a goodnight kiss, you’re not.”

The leader smiled before his lips were captured in a searing kiss that left his mind muddled and his legs wanting to take him to the bed he shared with his lover. He took a few deep breaths before he opened his eyes, even after the feel of lips against his had left.

“Mmm, not fair.”

“Ha ha, yeah, but worth it. Night.” Raph twirled Leo around and slapped him on the ass to get him moving.

“Hey! I saw that! Keep it in your room please~” Mikey’s voice teased from the front room causing them to roll their eyes.

“Mikey, get to bed.” Leo lectured. “Training tomorrow morning.”

The result was the ever so lively drawn out groan of a young teenager that wanted to stay up well past midnight. “Make sure he actually goes to bed and doesn’t stay up to read comics again, Raph.” A near to a crackling sound from the larger turtle made Leo second guess his command but only for a second. He waved to Raph and told him goodnight once more before slipping into the dojo. In there he found a comfortable spot to lay out his bedding in the middle of the room. There was plenty of room, familiar and comfortable place in his heart and memory, ideal for a little vacation sleep.

He had a good feeling about this.


	4. Chapter 4

Twinkle, Twinkle little star.  
How I wonder what you are.  
~

 

It was cold that night, an odd sort of chill that pressed deep into his shell biting into his bones. It was the sort of cold that could never be forgotten, it nestled deep into the memory of the body like the heat from deep burns. No matter how warm the blankets, how hot the drink, fingers and toes begged to go numb to escape the cold. Sleep tugs and pulls but the mind strives to stay awake, afraid to slip into rest for fear of never waking again.

Leo pulled his blankets closer around his shoulders. He had already gotten what spare blankets they had to put under him and on top of his own. Pillows were gathered to form a nest around his shivering figure that rubbed fingers and toes. He could almost see his breath, nose trying to drip as the cold took its hold.

He couldn't figure it out. Why was he so cold? He checked in on the others and they all slept well. He even stole a small space heater from Donnie's work space, it was going full blast yet the room would not heat not even next to his face where the thing was. In fact it seemed colder than when he first laid down. What the hell was going on? It wasn’t drafty. It wasn’t winter time. They had good insolation to every room because of the swimming area in the middle of their home always made things cold at night and once or twice during winter it would try to create fog.

“Ugh!” He squirmed in his nest. It was so much easier sleeping next to Raph. He was warm and if Leo had cold fingers and toes Raph would rub them until they were all better. He didn’t lay awake with his mind relentlessly prodding him with questions as to why he couldn’t sleep and why it was so relentlessly cold.

He was starting to hate this.

Tucking his head under his covers he tried to heat his face with his trapped breath. After a few minutes he did start to feel warmer, warm enough for his eyes to start to drift shut. His muscles relaxing preparing for the deserved relief of rest.

Then he heard it.

_Tick, thunk, tick, tick._

What was that? 

It was like a rock skipping over brick. It skittered from afar gradually getting louder until it stopped right outside the dojo door.

Leo pulled himself into a tighter ball. It was all in his head. He was hearing things because he was tired, his mind was playing tricks on him. He was very tired and he had just started to fall asleep. It would make sense that his rebellious mind would conjure up something strange to make his senses spring to awareness.

Then there was a dry breath heaved, loud and hard. Guttural movements of more skipping rocks joining the first all now dancing in front of the door.

Leo jumped.

That was not imagined. That was loud, very, very loud.

Swallowing, he sat up. The only light in the room was the red glow of the space heater's coils. 

No.

No he wasn't going to look. It was probably Mikey playing some prank in the middle of the night after over hearing that he was stressed out. He was just waiting for the right time to spring his trap. The orange clad turtle loved getting a good scare in when someone was vulnerable and Leo wasn't going to play this game. He was going to sleep and he was going to wake up refreshed and ready for training in the morning.   
This was the problem wrong with him. He just needed a little bit of time by himself despite all his griping about wanting to sneak into bed with Raph. Donnie always made perfect sense after all; So much time in the jungle, so many years not sharing a room. Donnie was spot on with this one... He had to be. Leo felt uncomfortable thinking about what else could be the cause of all his troubles. He wanted it to be simple. He wanted Raph to stop looking at him with those worried eyes every morning. He wanted them happy again where mornings consisted of warm snuggles and the occasional bout of hot sex. And this was the solution. If it wasn’t, his stubbornness was going to sure the hell try to make it that way.

Diving back under the covers he closed his eyes once more. "Go away, Mikey." Leo said loud enough for the person on the other side of the door to hear.

The dry breathing became heavier, shorter. Something was sniffing. Loud. Persistent.

"Mikey! I said enough! Go to bed!"

Hard footsteps, sniffing and snorting, the skipping of rocks kept getting louder and louder.

With a frustrated growl Leo threw his blankets to the side. Getting up he stalked towards the door, "Mikey I'm seriously angry now and if you think getting a whooping by Raph is bad then it's time to rethink your definition of 'bad'!"

He threw open the doors and stumbled. His toes tangled in roots and leaves. Going into a succession of hops he caught himself and looked down.

Dirt. Roots. Leaves. Those were not in the lair. If this was Mikey’s prank it was in poor taste. It didn’t make him scream, jump back, freak out; nothing that would be a reaction that Mikey would have been looking for. Instead it was just confusing.

"What?"

Looking up he felt his heart squeeze tight. All confusion drained only leaving him with a sense of dread. 

This couldn’t be happening.

Stars. The Milky Way, ribboning above him.

Twisting around he felt the ruffle of a cloak around his shoulders. He grabbed the corner and pulled it into view. It was his old one, the one he had back in the jungle. In... He looked around, each breath he took felt like a punch in the chest. In this jungle. It was this jungle. Why was he back here?

Leo ran his hands over his head pushing back the cowl. His fingers dug into his scalp, his nails scraping painfully across. He was awake. Pain was the indicator of being awake right?

"What's going on? What the SHELL is going on?!"

He took several deep breaths trying to gather his wits. He had to think. He had too... He had too... He started to walk, his hands pulling his cowl back over his head. He had to go somewhere. People were waiting for him. He had to go home, that's right.

A thick, wet trail slipped down his head. It dripped from his chin, sliding into the corner of his mouth in a thin line.

He stopped walking and touched the wet substance. Rolling it between his fingers and thumb he looked at its dark shine. He gave it a sniff, his snout wrinkling up. Blood?

Taking off his hood once more he touched the top of his head and hissed. It stung, the tissue slightly swollen from its abuse. His head was hurt. Why was his head hurt?  
Something was deeply wrong here.

He had to get home.

Fast.


	5. Chapter 5

Up above the world so high,  
Like a diamond in the sky.

~

The jungle was starting to get hot. The sweltering heat already beaded sweat down his neck, tickling trails rubbed over leathery skin. From blistering cold to smothering heat the jungle pulsed its temperature like a heartbeat. It could have been the difference between night and day but by all means the sun should have rose; A jem upon a blue painted crown. No sun came. No relief from the perpetual darkness. He couldn’t even see the moon. Every once in awhile there would be a strip of golden light in the horizon, he could barely see it if he climbed up high in a tree to get his bearings. Leo could only assume that there was a possibility that was the sun because after a while it would fade, the same span as a day.

Some times it got darker than the starlit sky. Leo would look up and there would be no stars at all. He would sniff the air and hold his mouth open gauging the moisture in the air. He had learned that in a moist forest like this one promising rain had either an ozone smell or the air would have a fresher taste. It never rained. It left his mouth feeling thick and dry. Most ‘days’ he resorted to licking leaves for collected moisture. A few times he had to eat beetles for food to stop his stomach from trying to tear itself apart. Their sickening crunch, the way the bugs popped out of their squirming limbs. He threw up the first few times he had to do it, soon after stomaching a few he started to target the larger insects. These he was able to roast over a small fire and peel off their exoskeletons and eat the sweet meat inside. Out of all of them he was developing a taste for tarantulas. The more he ate of them, the more he wanted. He fantasized having them with mashed potatoes and collard greens. He set his mouth watering of having them bottled up like lobster and served on a bed of rice and lettuce. The meat plucked and stirred into spaghetti sauce on long fun noodles that Mikey would slurp up, a nice big fat slice of garlic bread served up to the side. That always got his mind set to wander off to what he would give for a cheese burger. A taco. Delicious New York hot dogs with everything on it. Pizza.

Leo pulled his cloak tighter around his shoulders. He missed home. He had been traveling in the same direction for almost a week now. He had little food, less water, and even less sleep. Every time he tried to close his tired eyes his mind would scream at him to get up. It would scream, and scream, and SCREAM! Finally he would get back up and start to walk again. He wanted to eat piles of Mikey’s weird cooking. He wanted to guzzle as much water as possible. Most off he wanted to flop down in bed and cuddle up to Raph.

The ninja blushed. When did that kind of thinking start up? Raph was his brother not lover. ...but... it would be nice. Raph always did make a good bed companion, they did have to share when younger... he always did love it when Raph would cling onto him when he slept. No, no, no. He couldn’t think that way. He had to get out of this never ending jungle before he could address any strange things he might have been thinking up of his brother.

How to get out of this place was the problem. Perpetual night, the soft yellow glow of what he could only assume was the sun was his only help to tell where north was. Even then he wasn’t sure he was going in the right direction.

He pushed a large leaf to the side, his fingers brushed against the familiar long legs of a tarantula. Quickly he grabbed it, pinching its head away from the mandibules and twisting the head off. It’s body was dropped into a small sack that was tied to his belt that held a couple other dead arachnids and a few palm sized beetles. He was finding more of the large spiders the further he walked in this direction. If nothing else it was a source of nourishment for him. If Donnie was here he would be able to explain why there were so many starting to show up. And if Leo was feeling more to form he would probably be able to recollect a few things that his genius brother told him to look out for in the wilds of the jungle. But right now, he needed to rest.

Finding a small clearing he set about to gather some wood. When the clearing was filled with the soft glow of fire light the shadows receded like waves on a beach. Tiredly he sharpened a stick with the end of his sword before using the stick to lance a few of the insects. Digging the stick into the ground he leaned it over the fire. He repeated this until all his ‘food’ was cooking, the fire singeing off the hairs from the spiders, blistering and curling the wings of the beetles.

He would try to sleep soon. Even if he rested his eyes for only a short amount of time, it would be at least something. Leo leaned back looking up at the sky, the Milky Way glistened above him. It was so pretty, so quiet. 

He rubbed his eyes. 

So tired.

“You should sleep.”

No, no he had to eat first. Drink whatever juices he could get from his meal. It’s been too dry, even the leaves have been lacking dew drops for him to lap up.

“Sleep.”

Leo ran his hands over his face, cold was starting to set in now, nipping at his skin damp from sweat. He pulled the wettest parts, smearing it closer to his brow. His hands slipped to his neck, kneading hard to try to relief some of the pressure building up into his head. “I must be real tired. Starting to hear voices.” He frowned at the sound of his own voice. It sounded horrible.

He reached over to his ‘meal’ and pulled a morsel off. He cracked open the shell like exterior, careful not to drip any of the juices. He sealed his lips around the opening he created, using his tongue to slip in and pull the meat into his mouth before sipping the husk dry. He worked his way through all that he had feeling a little better each bit he ate. Finally he emptied every shell and his stomach gurgled happily for having something to work on. Now he could sleep.

Slipping onto the ground, closing his eyes, he curled up into a comfortable ball. The warmth from the fire caressed him, holding him from the cold. The wood popped like an old chattering friend. Soon, Leo was asleep.

“wake up”

Leo ignored the voice, trying to continue to rest.

Familiar, powerful arms wrapped around his body. Large palms rolled him over onto his back. He purred softly as those hands worked over his chest, onto his arms. “Wake up.”

“Nnnoooo.” He groaned trying to roll back onto his side. “Raphael let me sleep.”

“NO!!”

The hands gripped hard, the painful grip not noticed as he was shaken violently. “Wake up! Wake up!! WAKE UP!!”

Leo struggled against the person holding him, the voice different from Raph’s. His eyes snapped open seeing that it was Raph on top of him but it was his own voice screaming at him. “WAKE UP! WAKE UP!!!” The screaming was getting louder and louder to the point that it made his ears ring. The shaking became more violent making his head bang over and over again on the ground. The shouting became nothing but a string of noises as his ears garbled the words into piercing rings. All he could see were lips repeating over and over “Wake up, wake up!”

Leo felt his body jerk hard his eyes opening from sleep. The fire next to him only red coals. He shook with every breath, his head hurt, his arms pulsed with pain. He felt so sick.

He rolled over, his stomach clenching. The only thoughts he had were to hold in everything, he needed the liquid to stay in. He risked dying of dehydration if he threw up. Who knew when the next time he could have something to hydrate him. But all he could do was continue to heave, finally a thick mucus spilled out. Hard lumps pushed through his throat onto the forest floor. When he finished throwing up, mucus clung to his bottom lip. 

He panted barely able to keep his eyes open. 

The lumps shifted, uncurling. Long limbs spreading out, twitching before skittering away.

Leo felt his stomach churn, it cramped trying to throw out whatever it had left in it. 

Spiders. 

He had just thrown up spiders.


	6. Chapter 6

When the blazing sun is gone;  
When there’s nothing to shine upon.  
~

 

The sound in the air was unfamiliar to him. It was garbled, obstructed by the loud volume of it. It slowly faded into life for him, ebbing into awareness like a breaking dream. It was his own voice. Screaming out blood curdling wails of a frightened child. The soft earthen ground felt bitterly sharp to his knees and cheek as he clenched his stomach. He was so frightened, so scared.

He was going to die.

He was lost in a never ending forest where the only food he could get were bugs that came to life inside of him. Squirming around in his belly as he slept. He had no water, even the forest was drying up. Before this he thought he could make it. He could keep fighting to stay alive and push his way out of the jungle and get back home.

The hopelessness of this quest was overwhelming now. He couldn’t pretend anymore. He couldn’t shut his eyes and imagine what it was like to be back home.

He was alone. 

There was no Raphael to think about and lean upon for strength.

He was lost. 

There was no Donatello there to judge and speculate. To scrutinize and examine the possible ways out of this nightmare.

He was going insane. 

There was no Mikey to smile and give off well timed bad jokes or a random goofy hug replenishing hope.

He was frightened. 

There were no soft, fur covered arms to wrap around him and calm him down and guide him with reassurance by Master Splinter.

He had to be dying, everything was taken away from him and all by his own choice. 

A better leader. 

If he wasn’t throwing up he would have scoffed at this. It was **them** that made him into a leader, he was nothing without his family.

Pitty had to have been taken upon him, his wretched wails reached some kind ears as the sky opened up. Thick droplets of rain pattered down on the ground in front of him, then a few on his shell and hand. His wails transformed into strained screaming. If the rain was a figment of his growing madness he couldn’t handle it. His mind was a thread of gossamer ready to break.

“Leo?”

He looked up, a bright light washing over him pulling him from the jungle and into the warmth of the voice.

“What are you doing in the shower in the dark?”

Michelangelo?

“Shell, man, how... why are you so dirty?” His little brother came up to him helping him off of the floor. “Uhk, gross. Is that puke? You sick?” Mikey’s wrist went over his wet forehead before pulling back. “Can’t tell with all this cold water. If you were sick you should have said something before we left. We would have picked you up some stuff.”

“What?”

“You know, like that tea you drink whenever you’re sick. It smells like feet and tastes like burnt tires. Or maybe have gotten you some chicken soup.”

Leonardo didn’t hear Michelangelo’s ramblings as he looked around the room; everything seemed foreign. It was like everything was out of place yet his mind told him everything was where it should be. The towel rack had clean towels. The shelves held toiletries and medicines. Everything was normal... so why did he feel like everything was out of place?

His baby brother reached for him and he recoiled. His eyes still squinted from the bright light. He held a hand up to block the bright glare of the bare bulbs and noticed the dirt all over his hands going up to his elbows. He turned his hand and curled his fingers when the water started to sting. His fingernails were chipped and cracked, skin ripped with small pebbles wedged into the skin. 

“Don? Can you come in here?” Mikey called out.

“Sure what’s the...” Leo didn’t notice Donnie until he pulled his hands close. “Leo?” A hot thumb pressed just under his brow and pulled open his eye, the familiar squeak of the faucet was more of an indicator that the shower had been turned off more than the water stopping. He had already gone numb. “Leo can you hear me?”

“Ye-yeah.”

Donatello held his head still with one hand and snapped in his ears with the other, judge how he flinched. “Auditory functions normal.” Donnie held out his fingers and had Leo follow them with just his eyes. “Optical function seems normal. Can you feel this?” A sharp pain lanced from his thigh then his arm.

“OW! Yes! What the shell?!” He pulled himself away from his brother noticing-as if for the first time-the dirt up his arms and legs. He winced when he flexed his fingers. “Why am I so dirty?”

“Leo.” Mikey filled the silence when Donatello had said nothing. “Why were you showering in the dark with only the cold water?”

“Only cold... you’re kidding right? Who showers like that?”

“Obviously you-”

“Get yourself cleaned up Leo, we’ll be down stairs.” Donatello quickly grabbed Mikey by the elbow and turned on the hot water. He quickly left and shut the bathroom door behind them.

“What’s the deal?” Mikey didn’t sound too happy.

“We need to talk to Master Splinter and Raph, now.”


	7. Chapter 7

Then you show your little light,   
Twinkle twinkle all the night.

~

Their voices were hushed as they gathered around in a tight circle. They whispered amongst themselves like pious folk of old, terrified that the devil may hear their words and twist them into wicked deeds.

“How long had we been out?” Michelangelo asked.

“Not longer than a day. Remember he said he wasn’t feeling well and needed more sleep so we left him home.” Donatello folded his arms over his chest, his shoulders touching Michelangelo on one side and Splinter on the other.

“Why do you think the time is important?” Raph hissed through his teeth. “Leo’s here now.”

“But we need to figure out where he’s been. He obviously wasn’t sleeping this whole time. He went somewhere. He was covered in dirt and do you see any loose soil in the sewers?” Don snipped.

“Why didn’t you get a sample of the dirt like the dude’s on some of Splinter’s shows?” Mikey asked.

“Because I don’t have the equipment nor the topographical knowledge to tell where the dirt could have come from. But if we can narrow down the time frame of when he could have left and come back then we can safely gauge his travel speed and mark a radius on the map to search.”

“...what?”

“A circle around our home that is the distance Leonardo may have traveled.” Splinter clarified. “To search these areas is a good idea my son but we must keep in mind that his behavior is becoming increasingly erratic. I am ashamed to say I have no experience with this. Donatello... what do you recommend?”

Three sets of eyes shifted over to the olive turtle. “W-well, I don’t have much experience in this either-”

“Come on genius, we can’t just sit here doing nothing.” Raph nearly pleaded.

“-but,” he shot Raph a glare for interrupting. “What we can do is have someone watch him, soon as he starts acting strangely we need to document what he is doing. It’ll help us understand what he is going through and I may be able to do some proper research as to what may be going on.”

“I will watch him.” Splinter nodded.

“Not alone. We don’t know what is happening just yet. No one, not even you Raph, should be alone with him at any given time until we can figure out the best course of action.”

“What?!”

All three family members shooshed the red banded ninja.

“It’s for the best, we don’t know if he’ll become dangerous when he ‘blacks out’, so to speak.”

“But Leo ain’t dangerous. He can’t even punch Karai.”

“True as that may be, he’s still a trained ninja. He knows 37 ways to kill an opponent with just the hilt of his sword and 11 ways to incapacitate someone with just his thumb!” Donatello poked a finger into Raph’s chest. “You love him, but we all do and we love you, so don’t do something dumb and get yourself killed because you don’t think he could harm a fly.”

Raphael’s chest swelled with drawn breath, before he could retort Leo’s voice sent a shiver down his shell. “What are you guys doing?”

The little group dispersed quickly. While Leonardo’s brothers left Splinter distracted his son by taking him by the shoulder. “We were worried about you, after all you were not feeling well when we had left yesterday. We were discussing what kind of medicine you may need if you feel any worse.”

“Oh but I’m feeling much better now sensei.”

“Ah but Leonardo you look pale to me, it may as well be an illness that ebs for a short time only to come back much stronger. Why don’t you come and watch some stories with me?”

“I.. o-okay.”

With a sigh of relief the three remaining brothers looked at each other.

“That was close.” Mikey mumbled.

“Agreed. Mikey, you stay here with Master Splinter while Raph and I try to pick up on Leo’s trail.”

“Why me?”

“Yeah, why him?” Raph added.

“Several reasons. First off, you’re too close to this Raph, if something did turn for the worse could you say with full confidence you would be able to restrain Leo even to the point of grievous harm?”

“Grievous? We ain’t gonna kill him Don.”

“I know that. But what if it goes down to him and you? What if he very well tries to kill you? Would you be able to defend yourself to your full abilities?”

“Well yeah, I-”

“Really think about it Raph. After Winters, after what you guys said about your fight on that rooftop. Would you really?”

The image of Leo under him, rain pelting down on their skin, the subsiding rage that had tried to guide him to pierce his lover’s skull flashed in his mind. Leaving behind an impression like a bulb from a camera. “No...” Raph looked to the side feeling his stomach churn.

“And you think I could do all this?” Mikey interrupted. “You either have too much faith in me or I’m more awesome than I thought.”

“It’s more like you’re the least threatening.”

“Hey!”

“No, hear me out. Leo has never seen you nor Master Splinter as threats. He’s never felt intimidated by the two of you, in fact he’s always felt responsible for you. Hopefully he’ll remain calm and himself.”

“Enough talkin’ lets go already.” Raph pushed Donatello getting him to walk to the front door.

“Wait, you seriously going to leave us here?” Mikey followed. “You haven’t told me what I’m supposed to do. Am I supposed to keep a steady beat on his chest or put him on his side so he doesn’t choke on his tongue?”

“His heart hasn’t stopped Mikey, nor is he passed out drunk.” Donatello rolled his eyes while he grabbed his staff and bag. “Just do what you do best.”

“What’s that?”

“Be a knucklehead.” Raph waved at him before the two left the lair.


End file.
